1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a multi-card connector assembly, and more particularly to a multi-card connector assembly with a movable multi-card connector.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electrical cards for computers include multimedia storage cards or memory cards. The available memory cards, such as the Secure Digital Card (SDC), MultiMedia Card (MMC), Smart Media Card (SMC), Memory Stick Card (MSC), XD-picture card (XDC), and the like, in the market have various specifications. Because the positions of connection points of the memory cards with different specifications are not the same, the electrical connectors to be connected to the memory cards with different specifications are not the same.
In order to facilitate the usage, the manufacturers try to integrate different electrical connectors into an electrical connector assembly suitable for various memory cards with various specifications. Thus, the user can conveniently use various memory cards in conjunction with the connector assembly.
The used electrical card has to be inserted into and removed from the connector. As shown in FIG. 1, a card may be inserted into and removed from an electrical card connector 10. The connector 10 is electrically connected to a mainboard of a corresponding electrical device 15, and has an insert port that is substantially flush with a casing 16 of the electrical device 15. When an electrical card 18 is inserted, a card guiding in/out device (not shown) disposed in the electrical card connector 10 may be used to position the electrical card 18, which is not exposed. As shown in FIG. 2, when the card is to be taken out, the user may slightly press the electrical card 18 such that the electrical card 18 can be ejected.
Because the above-mentioned electrical card connector has to be connected and fixed to the mainboard, the card guiding in/out structure is disposed in the body of the electrical card connector so as to guide the electrical card in and out. However, the body of the electrical card connector is stationary, and thus has the following drawbacks.
1. The inserted electrical card is electrically connected to the terminals of the connector, so the electrical card is positioned and rejected through a card guiding in/out structure, and the contact points of the terminals with the inserted and rejected electrical card are rubbed many times. Thus, the lifetime of the electrical connector is shortened and the number of insertions and rejections is reduced.
2. Because the card guiding in/out structure is disposed in the body of the electrical card connector and different electrical cards have different widths and thicknesses, the structure is difficult to be used in conjunction with the multi-card connector. Thus, only one card guiding in/out structure cannot achieve the card guiding in/out operations of different electrical cards. It is not easy to dispose one card guiding in/out structure within the space of the body of the electrical card connector. It is more difficult to dispose two or more card guiding in/out structures in conjunction with different electrical cards, so the current multi-card connectors have no card guiding in/out structure.
3. Since the multi-card connector does not have the card guiding in/out structure, the inserted electrical card is partially exposed out of the casing after being positioned such that the user's hand can remove the card. However, the exposed card causes the poor product feature or tends to cause the card to be damaged. Furthermore, the exposed lengths of the different electrical cards that are inserted are not the same, which is also a drawback in usage.